An Essay on Affordable Private Schools
Prashant JainWhat do you believe is the role of affordable private schools for the poor in India? " Private " schools are schools that are independently operated and do not receive government aid. Private schools for the poor exist and they are most likely to have the largest effect on enrollment. The macro-level analysis of various independent factors such as government spending on education, political opinion, economic data, and cultural variables determines their relationship to private schools in the developing world. Private schooling in India is demand-driven. Parents choose private education because they believe they provide better education and future opportunities for their children than the government schools. Political factors play a serious role in private education choice. Private schools are currently educating a large percentage of the world's poor. Governments are not on track towards achieving the Goal: Education for All. When private schools are included, more students are enrolled in school than governments. Affordable private schools are included in education enrollment goals and benchmarks are being met. Because of government failure to educate students in very poor areas, private schools that charge low-fees are educating students that would otherwise attend government schools—or not be in school at all. Schools develop in this scenario as government does not meet a mandate to education, which it declares a fundamental right. Whether the failure is actual or perceived, private organizations are educating the masses where there is government failure. The low-fee private school sector is fulfilling parents' demands in cases where government schooling does not. Political scientists, policy-makers, and government officials need to recognize the influence and salience of the private sector when discussing global education. Private education is helping educate the world's poor in a substantial way. Primary reason that families choose private schools is perceived superior quality to government schools. Largest reasons for choosing private schools are, in order, poor or nonexistent government-school infrastructure, lack of English medium education, and insufficiency or absenteeism of government-school teachers. Government schools geographically located too far from many families to attend school, and children who attend private school tend to have higher attendance and greater measured achievement. Political aspect of affordable private schools has often been overlooked. Existing studies either discount affordable private schools completely, citing education as a normative universal " public good " , or discount the role of government, saying that private schools arise because the " government system is perceived to be inadequate " , that they exist because of the poor and declining quality of government education, or inadequate infrastructural capacity of government to handle educational needs alone. Affordable private sector can " reclaim education " for the poor, especially in cases in which governments fail to provide education. When a collective-action problem leads to failure of the government sector, and government is not responsive to citizens' needs, citizens are more likely to privatize what has been previously viewed as a collective function. Trust in government, the relationship between teacher job protection, union strength, and teacher absenteeism and the language of instruction are all salient concerns. Government policies, including spending and curriculum help explain the size of the private sector. There is a role of key players in government and private education. The principal actors, which are outlined as follows, are government actors (public officials), teachers, parents, and school operators/entrepreneurs. With such heavy job protection, teachers are often absent from class. Some teachers are absent because of the close relationship between teachers' unions and the government sector—they are carrying out administrative, political, or election-related work, and other teachers are absent because of the lack of accountability surrounding teacher absence. Parental preferences also play a role in private enrollment. Parents also recognize teacher absence, and cite government-school teacher absenteeism as one reason for choosing private schools. Government officials also hinder or encourage the provision of private schools by motives of personal financial gain. Corruption taints private school regulation. Government teachers oppose private education for both ideological and practical reasons. Teachers have a stated commitment to universal and compulsory government education, and many do not feel that poor families ought to pay money for private school. Practically, low-fee private schools are competitors for government schools, and teachers have a rational incentive to limit their supply in order to protect the pre-eminence of government school. Individuals and groups create and operate affordable private schools. For these schools to exist there has to be significant incentive for independent school operators to work in the sector. School curriculum and language of instruction can also impact parents' preference. Many families choose private schools because they are English-medium. English provides a competitive advantage: though the country has official languages at the state level, English is one of the two official languages for state business. Governments use language as a political tool. Finally, cultural factors have a significant impact on parental choice. Low-fee private schools do have some direct connection to parental choice through factors associated with religion. If given a chance what are the kinds of innovative solutions (products & services) that you will introduce to these schools and how would you make these interventions sustainable in these schools? Innovative Solutions-Outline